We join the world in recognising the International Plastic Bag-Free Day on Sunday 3 July annually.
We are aware of the dangers posed by plastic to the environment and believe it is important to urge South Africans to curb the use of single-use plastic bags and other plastic products.
Plastic bags have adverse effects on the environment and it has become evident that plastic products, such as plastic carrier bags and single-use plastic bags, contributes to marine pollution.
We urge more South Africans to recycle plastic products to prevent plastics from ending up in the sea and destroying the marine population. These initiatives need to be expanded and grown on a larger commercial scale to offer more value to beneficiaries and enterprise-support programmes in the informal sector.
There is a need to develop a policy instrument to phase out plastic straws and to manage single-use plastic products in a manner that will protect the environment, while not impacting negatively on the economy and in a manner that will prevent job losses in affected industries.
